Me and My Shadow Demon
by Scoobyfan1
Summary: Part of my 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo fan fic series, but with Fred and Velma and without Scrappy Doo. Remember the saying from that old radio show The Shadow Knows? Well, Scooby and the gang are about to find out what it really means; unfortuntely for them, it's not quite what they expected. Currently being re-edited.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters are copyright 2009 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. No challenge to their ownership is implied; I am not making any money from writing this story, I am just a fan and I am writing this simply for fun.

Chapter 1

We find the powerful warlock and friend of the internationally renown detective agency known as Mystery Inc., Vincent Van Ghoul sitting in one of the hundreds of rooms in his ancient castle in the Himalayas, at the present time he is occupying his time by reading a book when he hears a strange noise; he runs into the next room and sees that the window is cracked and that his crystal ball has fallen on the ground and is cracked as well.

"My word" Vincent thought, "Who could have done this and why?"; the great sorcerer then continued to ponder this strange occurrence as he picks up the crystal and places it back on the table.

Unseen by Vincent however, a sinister shadow like figure floats near the window; the strange black creature heads over to the window and goes through it, disappearing out of sight.

Thousands of miles away the Mystery Machine driven by Fred, the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. heads down a dark and desolate looking road; Velma sitting towards the back of the van, is holding a small electronic device when suddenly the machine begins to emit a strong beeping signal, the bespectacled sleuth noticed this and looked down at the device; after she noticed what the device was doing, she then decided to inform her comrades of this event.

"Jinkies, it looks like we're picking up something on our Specter Detector" Velma remarked.

"But where is it coming from?" Daphne asked.

"Hmm, according to the reading it seems to be coming from that direction" Velma said pointing further down the road.

"Then that's where we need to go" Fred commented.

The Mystery Machine continued down the gloomy looking stretch of road as the detector continued to emit it's signal; looking back down at the device Velma could see that the signal was getting stronger as the van got closer to the source of the ghostly activity, after several more minutes the Mystery Machine found themselves parked in front of what looked to be an old cave; Scooby and company then exited the van and stood in front of the cave as the group of sleuths attempted to figure out their next move.

"Hmm, there seems to be a large concentration of ectoplasmic activity coming from inside that cave" Velma remarked.

"What's ectoplasm?" Shaggy asked.

"Isn't that what ghosts are made of?" Daphne added.

"Like I thought ghosts were made of nothing" Shaggy wondered.

"Well that is what most ghosts are made of Shaggy, however most spirits are nothing but shadows" Fred replied.

With that Scooby and the gang then entered the cave and began looking for ghosts, after the gang entered the cave, they noticed that inside of it was an old abandoned mine; the cowardly Great Dane and his master then remembered what their colleague had mentioned about some spirits being shadows and the two of them reluctantly walked through the mine along with the rest of the gang all the while looking frightened.

After walking for several minutes the cowardly canine spotted something and began whimpering; the Great Dane's cowardly companion looked over at his pet and attempted to see what was troubling him.

"Like what's the matter Scoob?" Shaggy asked.

"Ra rhadow" Scooby replied trembling.

"Aw come on Scoob, like don't tell me you're afraid of your own shadow?" Shaggy said trying to reassure him.

As the beatnik softly petted his canine companion the two of them were unaware that the shadow began to form into a strange creature; the being had piercing yellow eyes that were almost the same color as the moon and was as black as the night, as Shaggy and Scooby continued to walk through the cave they felt the distinct feeling that they were being watched.

"Scooby like I think your nerves are getting on my nerves" Shaggy remarked.

"Rhy?" Scooby asked.

"Because I think somebody or something is giving us the once over" Shaggy said nervously.

"Don't be ridiculous you two, no one is watching us" Velma said scolding them.

But this time Velma was completely wrong, for as the gang continued to walk through the cave the strange creature began laughing wickedly.

"Zoinks! Like what was that?" Shaggy wondered with dread in his voice, hoping he wouldn't find out who or what was making the noise.

He and Scooby then turned around and saw the strange shadow creature floating right in front of them, which caused the rest of the gang on instinct to also turn around and see the source of the mysterious sound.

"Jeepers! It's some kind of shadow creature; I guess you two were right!" Daphne shrieked, before turning to Shaggy and Scooby.

"Jinkies, now what do we do?" Velma wondered.

"Well in times like this I prefer to think of the words of the great confused one" Flim Flam remarked.

"And those would be?" Fred wondered.

"Let's split!" Flim Flam replied.

"Good thinking Flim Flam buddy, let's get out of here!" Shaggy said.

Mystery Inc. began running at top speed away from the strange shadow creature; Scooby and company found themselves heading deeper and deeper into the mine until the six sleuths suddenly stopped.

In this case Scooby and company had stopped with good reason because the strange creature had chased the teenage detectives, Flim Flam and Scooby to a rickety old wooden bridge across a wide chasm; the group looked down from their precarious perch to see what was below the strange bridge but saw only blackness, realizing that if they happened to get to close to the edge or fall off they might not get out of their current situation alive.

Naturally this was what the strange shadow creature was hoping to do to the group, the strange being began using its piercing yellow eyes as something akin to miniature torches to begin burning through the ropes that held up the bridge, the ropes began to unravel as the gang became nervous as to what would happen; suddenly the ropes snapped and Mystery Inc. fell from the bridge several hundred feet down into the chasm.

However just before the gang fell from the bridge the strange shadow creature used its ghostly tail to grab the Chest of Demons, our heroes were unaware of this fact at first; meanwhile Scooby and friends continued to fall into the deep dark abyss.

The six investigators continued to fall deeper and deeper into the chasm that is until somehow they reached the bottom; in this case the bottom happened to be what looked like an old coal car.

"Phew am I glad that's over" Shaggy said exhaling.

"Uh Shag?" Velma replied.

"What's up?" Shaggy asked.

"Somehow I don't think it's over" Velma remarked.

"Why?" Shaggy asked.

Velma was about to answer Shaggy's question when the car began rolling down a set of old mine tracks heading for parts unknown; Velma gasped at this occurrence and wondered what was going to happen next.

"Jinkies, I wonder where this old car's headed for?" Velma wondered.

"Like I don't know and I don't think I want to find out" Shaggy replied nervously.

The old coal car continued to rattle down the ancient tracks, however as the small car continued on its way the gang saw something that they wished they didn't see; the coal car was approaching a portion of the track that was broken, as the car the gang was in came ever closer to the broken part of the track Mystery Inc. and Flim Flam knew that they were in deep trouble.

"Zoinks! Like it looks like we're going to be down for the count in a few minutes" Shaggy shrieked.

"I hate to say it but Shaggy's right, we better figure out something or we're going to be joining the ranks of the thirteen ghosts!" Velma yelled.

"In that case there's only one thing to do, in the words of the great confused one, when all else fails scream!" Flim Flam yelled.

"Like that's just what we had in mind Flim Flam, help!" Shaggy added.

At this point the members of Mystery Inc. figured they were done for but they were wrong; because somehow Flim Flam's yell caused a large rock to dislodge and fall between the gap in the mine tracks, right where the gang was headed; the mine car successfully made it's way across the track and the gang continued to make their way safely.

"Flim Flam you did it!" Daphne exclaimed happily.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Flim Flam replied rubbing his hand on his sweatshirt in triumph.

"Don't celebrate yet gang, look!" Fred yelled as the coal car approached a section of the tracks, which led to two large loops; the car passed through the loops safely and prepared to finish its journey.

Suddenly the car stopped at the end of the tracks as Scooby and company were tossed from the car, the six of them then landed in a large coal pile for the most part safe and sound except for the fact that Mystery Inc. was covered in black soot.

"Fred? Daphne? Velma? Shaggy, Flim Flam?" Scooby asked with a whimper, trying to find out where his friends were.

Shaggy poked his head out of the coal pile, followed by Fred, Daphne, Velma and Flim Flam; each of them discovered that they were covered in coal dust, afterwards each of them brushed themselves off, however after doing so the gang discovered that something was wrong.

"Shaggy, where's the Chest of Demons?" Velma asked with a gasp.

"Like I don't know, I had it with me when we entered the cave but now it's gone" Shaggy commented.

"Oh brother, Mr. Van Ghoul's going to mad when he finds out what happened" Fred remarked.

"We've got to tell him what happened to the chest" Velma commented.

"So who wants to tell him?" Flim Flam said as he pulled the Crystal Ball out of his sweatshirt.

"I sure don't" Flim Flam continued tossing it over to Shaggy.

"Like not a chance" Shaggy remarked tossing the crystal over to Scooby.

"Rare rou ridding, rot re" Scooby commented tossing the crystal ball over to Velma.

"Oh no, I'm not telling him" Velma remarked as she tossed the crystal over to Daphne.

"No way, not me" Daphne said as she tossed it over to Fred.

"I don't think so," Fred said as he tossed the crystal back to Flim Flam.

"Oh this is ridiculous, I'll tell him; I'm not afraid of Vince, besides he and I are friends" Flim Flam remarked.

Flim Flam placed his hands atop the Crystal Ball and began trying to contact Vincent; finally the gang was able to reach their warlock friend except that the crystal was a bit on the fritz.

"Jinkies, it looks like Vincent's reception is a bit fuzzy" Velma commented.

"Flim Flam, how many times have I told you not to tamper with the crystal" Vincent commented, sounding a bit perturbed at the young man.

"Sorry Vince, let me try again" addressed Flim Flam.

"You know the crystal ball works and has a lot of parts that are similar to our TV set back home, whenever it's on the fritz one of us usually hits the top of it and then it works" Velma explained.

"Oh, you mean like this" Flim Flam said as he banged the top of the crystal.

"Hey it worked, good thinking Velma" Fred commented.

Now that the Crystal Ball's reception was fixed, Mystery Inc. still had the unhappy task of informing their warlock ally about their present situation and informing him of the disappearance of the Chest of Demons, which was not an easy thing to do.

"Vincent, we have sort of a problem; now you have to promise not to yell or scream OK?" addressed Flim Flam.

"Flim Flam, in all my years dealing with the macabre nothing has ever made me scream or yell" replied Vincent.

"We lost the Chest of Demons" Shaggy commented.

Vincent then screamed after hearing this dreadful news, but attempted to regain his composure in order to inform Mystery Inc. of the consequences if the chest was not found.

"This is serious, you have to find that chest this very evening" Vincent explained.

"But how, like we don't have any clues as to where it is" Shaggy wondered aloud.

"Actually Shaggy, we do, remember we saw a shadow creature of some kind just before we lost it" Velma commented.

"Hey that's right; maybe Vincent knows something about this Shadow Creature and where it's from" Daphne remarked.

"Indeed I do Daphne" addressed Vincent as he rummaged around his library looking for some information before finally finding what he was looking for.

"Here we are, oh dear this is not good at all," the warlock added.

"Like what is it?" Shaggy asked with a gulp.

"You must get that chest back tonight, because on this night the powers of darkness are at its strongest; in fact they are strong enough to destroy the Chest of Demons," Vincent explained.

"Jeepers, what can we do to find the chest and get it back?" Daphne asked.

"Very simple, all the ghosts of the world will congregate at Bald Mountain to celebrate, at the foot of the mountain sits Befuddle Manor, that is where you must go; the ghosts will try to destroy the chest before sunrise which is when they lose their powers" Vincent replied.

"Then we should get going immediately, before it's too late," Fred declared.

"Precisely, but there is also one last thing you need to know before you get going, you must…" Vincent began explaining before the crystal cut out.

"Vincent what else do we need to know?" asked Velma.

"Oh that Flim Flam and his fiddling with the crystal; I was going to tell them that parts of Befuddle Hall are like a giant maze, those who enter never get out alive" Vincent commented.

"Vincent, Mr. Van Ghoul?" addressed Velma as she tried to reach the warlock.

For a few seconds Vincent's picture came back on the crystal but then it disappeared just as quickly.

"Like now what should we do, who knows what Mr. Van Ghoul was trying to say about Befuddle Hall" Shaggy wondered aloud.

"Well there's only one thing to do, we have to get to Befuddle Manor and get inside somehow to try and find the Chest and the shadow creature" Fred explained.

"And I think I know how to get inside" Flim Flam commented.

"You do?" the gang asked in unison.

"Sure, it will be a cinch" the young boy explained.

Flim Flam, Scooby and the rest of the gang then gathered into a small huddle as the young boy explained his plan, which Shaggy and Scooby immediately disliked.

"Like, no way Scooby and I aren't going to some creepy house where we might get lost or worse" the cowardly teen explained.

"Reah, ro ray" Scooby added.

"Come on you two, you don't expect the four of us to go inside Befuddle Hall by ourselves do you?" Velma asked.

"Well, like actually" Shaggy replied, looking over at Velma and smiling all the while.

"You're kidding; you want the four of us to go in by ourselves? But what if some creepy ghost or monster tries to get us, then we won't have protection and I'll be all alone" the bespectacled girl explained with a frown on her face, speaking as if she was a damsel in distress.

"Like on second thought, we'll go right Scooby?" Shaggy said to his canine companion.

"Reah, ret's ro" the Great Dane replied.

With that Scooby and company piled into the Mystery Machine and heading for Befuddle Manor; inside the crimson colored van, Daphne who was still amazed that Scooby and Shaggy were able to be coaxed so easily into coming with the rest of the gang decided to ask Velma about how she was able to get the cowardly pair to join their investigation.

"Velma, I'm really surprised how easily you got Shaggy and Scooby to join us" the redhead said in a whisper.

"Yeah I'm surprised too, usually those two are always scared stiff and they never want to go on creepy assignments like this one" the bespectacled girl replied.

"That's just the thing, how on earth were you able to do that anyway?" Daphne asked.

"Simple, even though I'm the most intelligent member of the group, I still know how to turn on the old charm when I need to" Velma replied blushing a little.

"Velma! You were trying to butter Shaggy up to get him to come with us, weren't you?" Daphne asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh, I guess I was, wasn't I?" the bespectacled girl replied.

"Yes, but that's okay, at least I never have to do that to Fred in order to get him to do something" Daphne remarked.

"True, but at least it worked" Velma replied.

"It sure did" the redhead commented, as the two girls began giggling under their respective breaths.

At a stoplight the two detectives heard the two girls giggling, then turned around and wondered what was going on with Daphne and Velma, so they decided to ask what was up with the two of them.

"Like, okay what's so funny girls?" the cowardly teen wondered.

"Yeah, let us in the joke huh?" the blond teenager added, while keeping his hands on the wheel.

"Oh nothing" Daphne said.

"Right, the two of us were just having a nice friendly chat" Velma added.

Fred and Shaggy shook their heads as they turned their attention back to the road and the gang's investigation of the strange and gloomy house known as Befuddle Hall and the group's hopeful recovery of the Chest of Demons.

After driving for several more minutes the Mystery Machine came to a stop in front of the peculiar and possibly haunted house that the gang was set to explore.

"Well here it is gang Befuddle Hall; now let's get inside and look for that chest" Fred commented.

The gang then walked up to the door, all the while Shaggy and Scooby were trembling in fear as Fred rang the doorbell; they waited for an answer for a couple minutes until they heard someone coming up to the door.

The door opened and an elderly woman answered, the gang was a little surprised by this seeing as how they didn't expect someone like her to answer.

"Hello, can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yes we're the exterminators you hired" Fred answered.

"Ah yes, I'm glad you're here; I'm having a party tonight and I need some pests taken care of" the woman replied.

"A party?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, my guests are flying in from all over the world; if possible I don't want my guests to know you're here, kind of hush hush so to speak" the woman replied.

"Right, come on gang let's get to work" Fred commented.

"Like do we have to go inside there?" Shaggy asked.

"Come on you two let's go in; besides you'll miss all the great party food that's going to be served" Velma said with a wink.

"Sure, and not to mention they'll probably have dancing, and all kinds of other entertainment" Flim Flam remarked.

"Oh boy, like what are we waiting for let's go in Scoob!" Shaggy commented.

"Reah, Scooby Doo!" the Great Dane replied.

The old woman held the door open for Scooby and friends as they entered the building; after Mystery Inc. walked inside the elderly woman watched Scooby and company walk out of sight, however this old woman was no ordinary elderly person, this woman had some ulterior motives for wanting the gang there.

"Well, Griswald it looks like our little mice are in the trap" the woman said as she looked over at a spider wearing a blue top hat and a white tuxedo; suddenly there was a plume of smoke and the elderly woman became a younger looking woman with black hair and wearing a worn out red dress with black shoes.

"And now our crew of cats shall spring and take care of our little mice" the woman continued while laughing wickedly.

Meanwhile in another part of Befuddle Hall, Mystery Inc. began their search for the Shadow Creature and the Chest of Demons.

"Ok gang, let's get started with our investigation, remember if we don't find the chest, who knows what will happen" Fred explained.

Scooby and company started walking through a long hallway past at least dozens of doors; suddenly the blond teenage leader of the group saw a familiar and frightening sight.

"That must be the shadow creature!" Fred exclaimed.

"He's the one that stole the Chest of Demons" Daphne added.

"Right, come on gang after him!" Fred declared.

The gang followed the shadow creature down a long passageway, which seemed to go forever, after running for some time Mystery Inc. suddenly stopped as they noticed that the main passage split into two separate ones; however as they would soon learn the shadow creature also split in two as well.

"Now what are we going to do, we can't follow both passages" Daphne remarked.

"Sure we can, all we have to do is split up so that we can follow both of them; Daphne, you, me and Flim Flam will head down one passage while Velma, you, Shaggy and Scooby can search the other" Fred explained.

"Like I don't know about this, we still don't know what Vincent meant when he warned us about Befuddle Hall earlier" Shaggy replied nervously.

"Oh don't be ridiculous Shaggy, we'll be fine; but if it makes you feel any better I'll give you and Scooby a couple of Scooby Snacks a piece, OK?" Velma asked.

"Now that's more like it," Shaggy replied.

Daphne handed a red and white box to Velma who took a few snacks out of the box and gave a couple each to Shaggy and Scooby.

"Ro roy, ranks Relma" Scooby said.

"Like double thanks Velma" Shaggy replied.

"No problem, guys" Velma remarked.

"Now come on let's get searching gang" Fred commented.

With that the members of Mystery Inc. went their separate ways and began their respective searches.

After a few moments of walking Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam saw a strange looking black figure; the gang instantly recognized it as the same being that they had seen before in the mine.

"Jeepers, it's him; the shadow creature!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Come on gang we can catch him, let's go" Fred replied.

The trio of sleuths followed the Shadow Creature for several minutes before the gang found themselves in a hallway with numerous doors.

"Jeepers, now how are we going to find him?" Daphne asked.

"We'll just have to search every single door until we find the creature" Fred replied.

The trio stared on the left side of the hallway and saw a door with a large lock on it; each of the group wondered how they were going to open the door but none of them could figure out a way in which to do so.

"Hmm, I wonder what's in this room?" Daphne wondered.

"We'll never know, this door must be locked up tighter than Fort Knox" Fred replied, trying to open the door, unfortunately for him it wasn't budging.

"Well now what do we do, we don't know what's behind any of these doors, plus we have no idea what's in store for us in here" Daphne remarked.

"Hmm… well I guess we might be out of options, so there's only one thing we can do: call Vincent for help" Fred explained.

After hearing this Flim Flam got down on his knees and began begging his two friends not to call their warlock ally.

"Oh please, please don't call Vincent you guys; I'll do anything if you don't contact him!" the young boy said with his hands together and pleading with his adolescent friends.

"Come on Flim Flam, knock it off" Fred remarked.

"Yeah, besides if anyone can help us it's him" Daphne added.

"I guess you're right, besides he's probably gotten over being mad at me by now, right?" Flim Flam said.

The young boy then pulled out the Crystal Ball from his sweatshirt pocket and placed his hands over the crystal, trying to contact the great warlock.

"Calling Vincent Van Ghoul, calling Vincent Van Ghoul, come in Vincent" Flim Flam said.

Thousands of miles away meanwhile, inside his castle Vincent was trying to fix the crystal ball but was still quite perturbed by the young boy's constant fiddling with it.

"Blast this crystal and Flim Flam meddling with it, I guess it's no use contacting them; I'll just have to go there and assist them in person" Vincent said as he sat on a bright red flying carpet; "now let's be off, oh how I dread long flights and this carpet never shows a movie" he mused as the carpet flew out the window as he started on his way.

"I guess he's not answering" Flim Flam said.

"Terrific, now what are we going to do?" Daphne asked.

"Simple we keep searching the house until we find that chest and shadow creature, now let's see what's in this room" Fred commented.

The trio of sleuths opened the door and walked inside; the three of them noticed that inside this room were several baskets as well as a washer and dryer.

"This must be the laundry room" Daphne remarked.

"Looks like it, I wonder if there's any sign of that Shadow Creature or the Chest of Demons in here" Fred wondered aloud.

"Well, there's only one way to find out" Daphne replied.

"Right, we'll each check part of the room for clues" Fred explained.

"And if anyone finds anything whistle" Flim Flam remarked.

"I was just going to say that but it sounds good, ok gang let's get started" Fred replied.

Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam commenced their search through the laundry room and had been doing so for several minutes when the youngest of the trio began to hear strange noises.

Flim Flam whistled in order to get Fred and Daphne's attention as the two of them continued to search for the mysterious Shadow Creature; Fred noticed that the young boy was trying to get his attention and walked over to him.

"What's up Flim Flam?" Fred asked.

"I think I heard something" Flim Flam replied.

Daphne had now joined the two of them and was also wondering what was going on.

"What's the matter Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Flim Flam was just telling me that he had heard something" Fred replied.

"Like what?" Daphne wondered.

"Actually he was just about to tell me" Fred remarked.

"Right" Flim Flam replied.

"So Flim Flam, what exactly did you hear?" Fred asked.

"I think I heard some kind of weird scratching noise, it sounded like some one was trying to get into the room" Flim Flam replied.

"Jeepers" Daphne remarked.

As Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam continued to discuss their surroundings and their present investigation, they were all unaware that a strange presence was in the room with them.

Meanwhile in the other passageway Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were in the midst of their own investigation, attempting to make their way through the cobweb littered hallway headed towards who knows where.

"Velma?" Shaggy asked.

"Yes?" Velma replied.

"Like were are we anyway?" Shaggy asked.

"Beats me, but wherever we are it's certainly dark; I can hardly see two feet in front of my face even with my glasses" Velma replied.

"I have an idea, maybe we should hold hands so we don't get separated" Shaggy replied.

"That's actually a good idea Shaggy, I'll take your hand and Scooby, you can take mine" Velma explained.

With that Shaggy took Velma's hand, afterwards she took Scooby's paw in her hand and the three began walking down the passageway; the trio of sleuths made their way down the dark and dusty hallway.

After walking for quite some time the only female in the trio noticed something at the end of the passageway.

"Jinkies, I think I see a door and it looks like there's light coming from behind it" Velma commented.

"Hey like I think you're right Velma, nice work" Shaggy replied.

"Thank you Shaggy" Velma replied with a smile.

"Now like let's see what's behind that door" Shaggy commented.

"Right, come on you two" Velma replied.

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby reached the door and found that it was locked tight; being the resourceful intelligent individual that she was Velma brought out a small hairpin and used it to open the door; she was successful and the door opened for the three sleuths.

The three investigators walked through the door into what looked to be a dining hall; Shaggy and Scooby smiled at this development and couldn't wait to see what kind of food was in the offering, Velma meanwhile was more cautious than her friends as they all looked around the room.

Shaggy and Scooby then walked over to a large table at the back of the room and saw mountains of all different kinds of food; Velma noticed that while her cowardly friends were staring at the large table of goodies, some one or rather some thing was staring at them.

The bespectacled detective quickly ran over to join her friends while still being watched by hundreds of pairs of eyes in the room; Velma took Shaggy's hand and Scooby's paw and hurriedly ushered them aside, away from the table and prying eyes.

"Velma, like what's up?" Shaggy asked.

"Reah, re rere rust arout to rave a snack" Scooby replied.

"Somehow I think you two can do without food just this once, just take a look around" Velma explained.

Shaggy and Scooby looked around the large dining room and saw hundreds of tables at which sat literally hundreds of hideous, horrible monsters of every description and type.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy shrieked.

Velma quickly put her hand over Shaggy's mouth to avoid him giving the gang's position away.

"Velma, like what did you do that for?" Shaggy asked.

"Simple, we don't want any of those creepy monsters to find us right?" Velma replied.

"True" Shaggy remarked.

"So if those creeps don't know where we are, then they can't find us, correct?" Velma commented.

"Right" Shaggy replied.

"Basically all we have to do is stay hidden and nothing will happen understand?" Velma said.

"Like I sure do," Shaggy replied.

"Re roo" Scooby added.

"Now let's find a place to hide, come on you two" Velma said.

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby looked throughout the room but saw only hideous monsters, and nowhere to hide.

Author's Notes: The part of the chapter where Shaggy suggests that he and Velma should hold hands isn't really a Shelma moment, even though to anyone who reads this it would seem like it; in the _Scooby Doo Where Are You?_ Episode "Haunted House Hang-Up" Velma suggests that she, Shaggy and Scooby hold hands because they are in a dark room and they cannot see where they are, that's basically where that part came from.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Back inside the laundry room Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam wondered what they were going to do once the young boy had told them he heard some strange noises; the trio of sleuths then huddled up in the middle of the room trying to think of a plan.

"Fred, I have a bad feeling that some of those noises are some of that woman's party guests" Daphne remarked.

"I hate to say it but I think you might be right, we have to figure out a way to hide from whatever's coming" Fred replied.

"Yeah, but where can we hide?" Flim Flam remarked.

"Hmm, I've got an idea; see those laundry baskets over there?" Fred said pointing to three oversized brown baskets in a corner of the room, the blond teenager saw something white sticking out of each basket; once the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. saw this, he walked over the basket and decided to take a look; a few seconds later Fred took the lids of each of the baskets and noticed that what he saw were laundry sheets, one in each basket.

"What are you doing Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Formulating a plan" Fred replied with a look of intense concentration on his face.

After a few moments of thinking, the unofficial leader of the group of detectives' decided it was the perfect time to explain his plan to his fellow sleuths who looked quite confused, but were interested in the blond teen's idea.

"Yes Flim Flam and I see them, but how are those laundry baskets going to help us?" Daphne asked.

"Simple, a few minutes ago I walked over to the baskets and I noticed that there were laundry sheets inside each of them; so all we have to do is hide inside them and once the coast is clear we can use the sheets to make disguises for the three of us" Fred commented.

"I get it, if we wrap the sheets around us then everyone will think that we're ghosts" Daphne replied.

"And we can blend in with the rest of the creeps in this house" Flim Flam added.

"Right, come on gang" Fred remarked.

Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam quickly walked over to the laundry baskets; each one took their respective containers and ducked quickly out of sight.

A few seconds after the team of sleuths had found a safe place to hide they saw that the door was slowly opening; from their baskets Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam saw the same spider that they had seen earlier standing in the doorway.

"What's that creepy insect doing here?" Daphne said with a whisper.

"Beats me, but if I didn't know any better I would say he works for whoever owns this place" Fred whispered back.

"Let's not take the time to compare notes, let's keep hiding until he leaves" Flim Flam remarked.

"Good thinking Flim Flam, let's just hope that insect doesn't spot us" Daphne replied.

Meanwhile back inside the dining hall Shaggy, Scooby and Velma were continuing to hide from what they assumed to be the elderly woman's party guests; the cowardly Great Dane and his master shivered in terror as they tried to figure out someway to escape the strange conclave of monsters.

"Like how on earth are we going to get out of here, those monsters look like they're hungry and I don't think they want pizza or hamburgers" Shaggy said with a nervous gulp.

"Reah, re've rot to ro romething" Scooby replied.

"Will you two calm down, I really think you're nerves are starting to get on my nerves" Velma commented.

"Like sorry Velma, we're just terribly petrified of ghosts and monsters" Shaggy replied.

"You know Shaggy, I've never heard you talk like that before" Velma questioned with a surprised look on her face.

"How's that Velma?" the cowardly teen asked.

"Well first I've never heard you use those types of words before and second, you're always afraid of whatever ghosts or monsters that we face" the bespectacled teen replied.

"I guess all that time I've spent with you and around you I suppose all the intelligent things you say are rubbing off on me, as for being afraid of ghosts; this is way different than some of our older mysteries, these monsters and ghosts are real and they might take over the world" Shaggy explained.

"I'm glad to hear that I'm starting to have an effect on you Shaggy, but you don't have to worry about all the ghosts or monsters around here and from the chest; we're going to catch all of them and when we do we'll make them sorry they ever tried to haunt us and that they will never bother anyone else ever again" Velma replied.

"Thanks Velma, you're really a cool friend" the cowardly teen said with a smile.

"You're welcome Shaggy, you are too" the bespectacled teen replied.

"So like do you have an idea to get out of here Velma?" Shaggy asked.

"Hmm… I think so," Velma said.

"Well like what is it?" Shaggy questioned.

"My plan is this: when I say three we'll simply head towards the door and hope none of the creeps see us or catch us" Velma explained.

"Like that's a plan?" Shaggy asked.

"Sure, sometimes the simplest plans are the best ones, now let's get going!" Velma replied.

"Yeah, come on Scoob" the cowardly teen commented.

"Roming" the Great Dane added.

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby slowly began walking from their hiding place towards the front of the room and what they hoped they would be an exit from the grisly room filled with equally horrible monsters, all was going well for the three sleuths until they reached a series of steps at the front of the room; Velma could see that her cowardly friend's nose was beginning to twitch a little and she was secretly hoping that her friend wouldn't do anything to give their position away as well.

"Shaggy, what ever you do don't sneeze!" the bespectacled girl said with a whisper.

"Like sorry I guess my allergies are acting up," the cowardly teen replied.

"Well just to make sure you don't here's a handkerchief" Velma remarked handing Shaggy an orange cloth.

"Like it figures you would have a handkerchief in orange" the cowardly teen replied looking at the piece of cloth.

"Hey Daphne's not the only member of the group that likes to accessorize you know" Velma replied with a whisper.

"Like I guess not, thank you by the way" Shaggy replied.

"No problem, now let's get going and get out of here" Velma remarked.

The trio of detectives continued made their way up the steps hoping that someone or something didn't see them, they had made their way quietly up the steps and were now on what looked to be a stage when Velma noticed Shaggy's nose beginning to twitch again.

"Shaggy, I thought I gave you my handkerchief" the bespectacled girl said.

"Like you did, but I guess my nose is acting up again and I don't think I can stop from sneezing" the cowardly teen replied.

Sure enough a few seconds later Shaggy sneezed loudly, this of course drew the attention of every monster and ghost that was seated in the strange dining room right to the stage where the three sleuths were standing and forced the trio into thinking up a way to avoid them becoming a part of the creatures buffet.

Back inside the laundry room meanwhile Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam were still hiding from the strange spider that was standing in the doorway; after a few more minutes the eight-legged insect scratched his head and decided to give up his search for the trio of sleuths.

"Phew am I glad he's gone" Daphne remarked, wiping her brow.

"Yeah, if those party guests that the woman we saw earlier was talking about are half as creepy as that spider we might be in trouble" Flim Flam added.

"Well we can't worry about that now; come on let's wrap these sheets around us, get out of these baskets and continue our search for the chest and the shadow demon" Fred explained.

"Right, let's get going, this place gives the creeps" Daphne replied.

Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam then climbed out of their respective baskets, opened up the door to the laundry room and walked back out into the passageway hoping that their plan would work and that no one would spot them.

Back inside the strange dining room Shaggy and Scooby were standing on stage nervously with their teeth chattering their knees knocking together as usual; meanwhile Velma was watching them and was probably the most confident of the three, but she was still a little afraid that the three of them might not come up with a plan to distract the hideous ghosts and monsters that were sitting around the room.

"Like we've got to do something Velma, we can't just stand here all night and wait for those creeps to come get us" the cowardly teen said.

"I know Shaggy, I know; wait a minute I think I've got an idea, we can do a little show for our friends here, you know a little singing, a little magic, that kind of thing" the bespectacled girl explained.

"Like Velma, have you completely lost it? You want sing and do magic for a room full of monsters, plus I thought you hated to sing" the cowardly teen replied with a shocked tone in his voice.

"Well I don't really enjoy singing, however they say music soothes the savage beast and maybe this plan will work, plus you two will be doing most of the performing" the bespectacled girl remarked.

"Oh great, we have to do the singing and magic while being scared out of our wits, by the way what are you going to do? The cowardly teen wondered with his arms folded.

"I'll be trying to figure out a way out of here, what else?" Velma replied.

"Oh, like I guess that makes sense, I just hope this crazy plan works out" Shaggy commented.

"Don't worry Shaggy, it will work, I'm sure of it; now get on that stage while I try and look for a secret passage or something okay?" the bespectacled sleuth remarked.

"Like right, Scooby and I will give it our best effort" the cowardly teen commented.

With that Velma walked through a curtain, backstage and out of sight trying to look for a way out of their precarious situation; meanwhile Shaggy and Scooby started off their act by doing some magic, the cowardly pair brought out all the usual tricks to entertain their strange guests: pulling a rabbit out of a hat, the old colorful scarf trick, card tricks and a few other things; unfortunately the monstrous assembly was not amused and began grumbling angrily.

"Zoinks, like I guess they didn't like our magic Scoob, now what are we going to do?" the cowardly teen wondered.

"Rhat about romedy rand rimpressions?" the Great Dane replied.

"Like good thinking Scoob, and maybe I can try a little ventriloquism too" Shaggy commented.

"Rit's rorth a rhot" the canine replied.

So Shaggy and Scooby continued their act by doing some comedy routines, along with impressions of the rest of the group and of some of the past villains that the gang had encountered; when that didn't work the cowardly pair tried ventriloquism with Scooby performing the role of the puppet, the monsters in the room were not amused by this either and began grumbling loudly once again.

Meanwhile Velma was looking backstage for an exit from the strange room and auditorium, she had been searching for a couple minutes when the teen sleuth heard a familiar and sickening noise; the bespectacled teen looked around to see where the strange sound was coming from and saw a black figure beginning to materialize, instantly the bespectacled girl recognized the figure and gasped.

"The Shadow Creature!" Velma exclaimed.

The creature laughed wickedly as the brown haired teen looked directly at the creature and smiled, usually someone who encountered a strange being like the shadow creature would shiver and shake in terror but for someone like Velma, it was a fairly routine occurrence and she was not frightened at all, in fact she was about ready to capture the creature as it floated in front of her.

"So it looks like you've got me Mr. Shadow Creature, but I ask you this, what are you going to do? Are you going to try and capture me, scare me to death, or turn me into a ghost? Trust me I've been there and gone through all of that, there's nothing you can do to frighten me at all fella" the bespectacled girl replied.

Once again the shadow creature laughed wickedly as it slowly approached her, but once again Velma stood firm with her arms folded which caused the creature to scratch its head looking confused.

"Yeah, yeah, you're scary I understand that, but you're not going to frighten me, don't you understand I'm not scared of you and there's nothing you can do to scare me away from here, actually as a matter of fact, I don't think you're really dangerous or scary at all, I think you're just misunderstood and need a friend" the intelligent girl explained.

The shadow creature was clearly not amused by the girl's comments and moved ever closer to Velma; the creature was now about five feet in front of her when she decided to speak again, trying to talk some sense into the creature.

"No, I told you I'm not afraid of you, there are very few things I'm afraid of, well I am afraid of clowns but that's for a whole different reason; but shadows, I don't think so" Velma declared.

By now the creature was floating right in front of Velma's face, which caused the teenage sleuth to be a little frightened of this; while she wasn't afraid of ghosts or shadows, the fact that this strange creature was so nearby caused her to begin walking backwards to try and avoid him.

"Now don't come any closer, I warn you I know… well I've read about all kinds of different martial arts techniques but I can defend myself you know" the teen sleuth commented.

Velma continued walking backwards trying to avoid the creature, however by this time the bespectacled girl found herself backed up against the large red curtain which separated the back part of the stage area from the front part of the stage, suddenly the creature began blowing wind towards the bespectacled girl which caused her hair and sweater to move in the sudden breeze; after a few seconds the intelligent brown haired girl started to stumble, she then lost her balance and fell right through the curtain onto Shaggy and Scooby.

After seeing who was underneath the curtain Velma apologized profusely and helped her two friends get out of the curtain; the cowardly pair were able to stand up on the stage as Shaggy and Scooby both smiled and thanked their bespectacled friend for helping them to their feet.

"Sorry guys I guess I don't know my own strength" the bespectacled girl commented.

"Like that's okay Velma, at least we're still in one piece" the cowardly teen replied.

As the two of them began brushing themselves off and making sure there were no broken bones or body parts, the two teenagers heard their canine companion whimpering as usual.

"What's up Scooby?" Velma asked as the two teens turned to the Great Dane to see what the matter was.

Scooby pointed in front of the trio of sleuths while still sounding afraid; the teenagers and their canine companion saw that the strange shadow creature was still hanging around and tried to figure out someway to avoid him while at the same time making sure the monsters wouldn't start approaching them, suddenly Velma came up with a brainstorm and turned to her cowardly friends to make sure they understood her plan as well.

"Shaggy, Scooby, I have an idea that might get us out of this pickle we're in" Velma explained.

"Like what is it Velma?" the cowardly teen asked.

"Simple, you, Scooby and I are going to sing a little song, hopefully the creatures in here will enjoy it and they won't try and capture us; there's just one thing though" the bespectacled girl replied.

"And that is?" the cowardly teen asked.

"Well first off my singing isn't that great and second I don't have any idea what we should sing" Velma replied.

"Like that's okay Velma, I think you're a great singer plus Scooby and I were going to start singing anyway before you joined us and I think I have a great idea for a song" the cowardly teen commented.

"Thank you Shaggy that was very nice of you to say, so what's your idea?" the intelligent sleuth wondered.

"You're welcome, it's a song called me and My Shadow Demon; I really think it will work and hopefully our monstrous friends will enjoy it too" the cowardly teen replied.

"I hope so too Shaggy, well let's get to it" Velma said rubbing her hands together in readiness.

"Like me too Velma, me too" the cowardly teen replied.

So Shaggy, Scooby and Velma stood on stage facing the monstrous audience and the shadow creature that was still on stage with them; said creature was looking a bit confused as the trio began singing their song, all the while the trio of sleuths were hoping that they could keep the monsters in the crowd's attention long enough to keep them from capturing the three ghost chasers.

Back in the hallway Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam were continuing their search for an exit; about ten minutes passed as the three detectives realized that there was no way out of the passageway, the trio checked behind literally dozens of doors but none of them held an exit and it looked like Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam were licked.

"Freddie, I don't know how to say this but I think we might be lost" Daphne remarked.

"Yeah I have a strange feeling that some one is trying to trap us in here" Flim Flam added.

"How's that Flim Flam?" addressed Fred.

"Well, it seems to me that this passageway is never ending and for some reason parts of this house almost remind me of something out of an old horror movie" Flim Flam replied.

"Jeepers, I wish you really hadn't said that Flim Flam" Daphne commented.

"Don't worry about it Daph, we'll figure a way out of this creepy place" Fred replied.

"I certainly hope so Freddie, there's just one thing that worries me" the red-haired sleuth commented.

"What's that Daphne?" the blond teenage leader of the group asked.

"Well, there's literally hundreds of rooms in this place, so how do we know that we can find an exit and how do we know there is an exit from this place; not to mention all the monsters that are waiting for us if we pick the wrong room to enter" Daphne explained.

"Daphne, there's only one thing to do in that case and that's to investigate each and every room in this crazy place" Fred replied.

"Sounds like a perfectly good plan to me, only where should we start?" she asked.

"Why don't we start with that door over there" Fred said as he pointed to a door, which happened to be a few feet behind Daphne.

"Oh, I guess that room is as good as any other" Daphne replied.

"Right, time to see what's on the other side of this door" Fred explained.

So Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam walked over to the door and opened it; the trio of investigators were expecting the worst as they entered the room, mainly that the room was filled with ghosts, ghouls, monsters, dust and spider webs; however for the moment the three of them were quite surprised as the only thing inside of the strange room was a desk with a chair, a nightstand as well as a lamp along with a few other items; in other words it looked to be an ordinary room, at least so it seemed.

However as the group of teen sleuths would soon learn, this was no ordinary room but that it was actually something worse, in fact it was something quite frightening; as the trio of detectives would soon discover, this room contained a strange and terrifying surprise.

"So where should we start looking for the Chest of Demons Fred?" Daphne asked.

"I think the best thing for us to do would be for each of us to take a part of the room to search; Daphne, you and I will search this side of the room near the door, while Flim Flam, you search the side of the room near that closet over there" the unofficial leader of the group explained as he pointed out where each of the three sleuths would search.

"Good idea Fred, let's get started" Daphne replied.

With that Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam started searching the strange room; the blond teen, the pretty redhead and their young companion looked through every nook and cranny of the room, unable to find anything other than cobwebs, dust and a few assorted knick knacks; the three young detectives figured they were licked in their search for clues, but as the old saying goes: be careful what you wish for, and soon the trio of sleuths would be sorry that they had walked into the peculiar room.

Meanwhile back inside the strange auditorium/dining hall/night club, Shaggy and Scooby were singing their respective hearts out along with a guest appearance from the Shadow Creature, who had no idea what was going on and with some back up from Velma, who was secretly hoping that no one had a video camera so that this wouldn't end up where prying eyes could see it.

"Like listen to that Scooby, our public adores us!" Shaggy remarked with a smile, after he and Scooby finished their performance.

"Reah, rhey rove us" Scooby replied.

"Jinkies, I can sure agree with that, they really love you guys singing" Velma agreed.

Meanwhile Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam were continuing their search for clues, albeit still unable to find anything except what you would usually find in any room inside a haunted house, which Scooby and company knew all too well, considering their career choice.

"Jeepers Freddie, I hate to say it but I think we're back to square one, there just isn't any sign of the Chest of Demons anywhere in this room" Daphne remarked.

"Yeah Daphne I think you might be right, maybe this is a wild goose chase" Fred replied.

"Guys, how can you say that? If Vince says the Chest of Demons is here, it's here," Flim Flam said, somewhat impatiently.

Fred was just about to disagree with the young boy; however his train of thought was interrupted when something else crossed his mind, specifically a faint noise that he began hearing.

"Daphne, I have the strangest feeling about this room" Fred remarked.

"What's that Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Well, it's kind of like a soft noise of some kind, almost like a whistle" the blond teen explained.

"A whistle? Fred, how can you be hearing a whistle sound?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know, but I know what I'm hearing and what I'm hearing is a whistle, and now it's getting louder" Fred replied.

"Come to think of it I hear it too, it kind of sounds like a train to me" Flim Flam said, giving his description of the strange sound.

"I think you guys are hearing things, I don't hear any whistle or train" Daphne replied.

Before any of the three sleuths could say anything more however, the strange whistle was getting even louder and louder, now it appeared that the faint sound of a horn could be heard as well, which distressed Daphne quite a bit.

"You know I think you guys nerves might be getting on my nerves because I'm starting to hear that noise as well, and if I didn't know any better I would say it sounds like it's getting closer" the red-haired teen remarked.

Daphne was indeed correct as the train whistle became more audible and a few seconds later a bright white colored light could be seen; it was then that the trio of investigators had to make a snap decision in order to avoid being run over by the oncoming train.

"Jeepers, that train is coming right towards us, what are going to do Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Easy, we've got to get out of the way and fast! Now here's what we'll do, when I say three jump out of the way ok?" Fred explained.

"Sounds like a plan to me Freddie" Daphne replied.

"That sounds like a winner to me" Flim Flam added.

"Good, now get ready to jump guys" Fred explained.

"We're ready Fred" Daphne said.

"I'm ready when you guys are" Flim Flam commented.

"Okay guys, ready? One, two, three!" Fred commanded as he, Daphne and Flim Flam leapt out of the way of the oncoming train; just a few seconds before it roared down the tracks and crashed through the door.

"Jeepers, that was close" Daphne remarked, with some relief in her voice.

"Man, this place might be the weirdest house I've ever been in" Flim Flam remarked.

"Trust us Flim Flam if you had been with us when we started solving mysteries, you would have seen some places that were as weird as this house, even weirder" Fred explained.

"Like what Fred?" Flim Flam asked.

"Well, when we have the time Flim Flam, we'll tell you about some of them okay?" Fred replied.

"Sure, that sounds terrific!" the young boy said with some excitement in his voice.

"Good, now back to more pressing matters, like trying to find our way out of this crazy place" Fred explained.

"Freddie, I think I found a way to get out of here" Daphne replied.

"How's that Daphne?" Fred asked.

"Simple Fred, take a look over there at the door" Daphne explained as she pointed towards the entrance to the room.

The blond teen followed the redhead's finger to where she was pointing and saw that the train had made a serious dent in the door, which gave the room an added entrance where there wasn't one before.

"Hey, good thinking Daphne, that's our way out of here" Fred remarked.

"Fred, there's just one problem with that" Flim Flam replied.

"What's that Flim Flam?" the blond teen asked.

"What if the guests to the party show up? Or what if we run into a ghost?" Flim Flam replied with his own questions.

"I anticipated you asking that Flim Flam, that's why I've come up with a foolproof plan to get out of here, with no ghostly interference" Fred said.

"How Fred?" Flim Flam wondered.

"Simple, do you guys still have those white sheets that we found while we were in the laundry room?" Fred asked.

"Sure, we still have them; but how does that help us?" Flim Flam questioned.

"Well, all we have to do is wrap these sheets around us again and everyone will think that we're ghosts" Fred explained.

"Oh, that is a good plan Fred, I guess that's why you're so good at thinking up traps and plans during you guys mysteries" Flim Flam replied.

"Well thank you Flim Flam, coming from someone from a younger generation, that means a lot; now let's get going" Fred remarked.

With that Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam dressed themselves once again in the laundry room's sheets and headed on their way to try and find Shaggy, Scooby and Velma; meanwhile the Great Dane and his companions were finishing off their musical performance and were taking yet another curtain call as the various creatures and monsters of Befuddle Hall were applauding them on their concert.

"Jinkies, I guess all the monsters really enjoyed our performance" Velma commented.

"Like yeah and I'll say one thing; for monsters, they have great taste in music" Shaggy added.

"Reah, re rere a rsmash hit!" Scooby replied.

While Scooby, Shaggy and Velma were taking their bows, curtain calls and receiving applause from the audience, the shadow creature disappeared from the stage; a few seconds later, the trio of sleuths started walking towards the door which was the exit to the room, however as Velma opened the door, she, Shaggy and Scooby saw three white figures standing in the doorway.

"Zoinks like one, two, three ghosts, oh great!" Shaggy said, suddenly the cowardly teen became somewhat dizzy and fell to the ground.

"Shaggy, Shaggy? Holy smokes are you okay?" Fred asked as the cowardly teen was finally coming to, after a few moments lying on the wooden floor.

"Ugh, what happened?" the cowardly teen wondered.

"Shaggy, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think you fainted" Velma commented.

"Fainted? How on earth did I faint like that?" the teen wondered.

"Hmm… if I had to guess I would say you fainted when you saw Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam wrapped in those white sheets, you probably thought they were ghosts" Velma explained.

"Like I guess I did, how about that?" Shaggy remarked, somewhat surprised that something like that had happened to him.

"Well let's not try and figure out why it happened, let's just get out of here before something happens to us" Daphne commented.

"Right Daphne" Fred said, agreeing with his female companion.

With that, Scooby and the rest of Mystery Inc. reached for the door and attempted to leave the strange room; however, a few moments later a bat flew onto the stage and the gang's gaze switched to the strange creature as they attempted to figure out why this bat was in the room.

Suddenly the bat changed into a plume of white smoke; the smoke then changed into a strange looking woman with black hair and a white streak running through the middle of her hairdo; she was also wearing a ragged red dress and looked to be related to one of the late night horror movie hosts from the 1960's and 1970's.

The woman laughed wickedly as she saw the gang and motioned for some of the creatures to move towards Scooby and company; the creatures complied with the woman's request as they brought the Great Dane and his friends back onto the stage; the woman smiled evilly as she began to speak.

"Welcome to the seven hundred and fifteenth annual meeting of the AFO-CIM, the Associated Federation of Crazy and Irresponsible Monsters, I am Queen Morbidia, your humble host" the woman said introducing herself.

"Like it's nice to meet you and goodbye!" Shaggy remarked as he and Scooby attempted to leave the room and the house.

"On the contrary, you must stay with us tonight" Queen Morbidia explained.

"You mean as your guests?" Fred asked.

"No, as my prisoners, for eternity!" Queen Morbidia replied.

The wicked woman known as Queen Morbidia laughed in a sickening and evil manner as each and every monster in the room began advancing on Scooby and company; naturally this caused the sleuths and their Great Dane some distress, mainly the thought of being held prisoners in Befuddle Hall forever; as the strange creatures continued to advance, Fred and Daphne found themselves clinging tightly to each other in fear and comfort hoping that somehow they could figure a way out of their current situation, in addition to that Shaggy and Velma were doing the same thing as Fred and Daphne, mainly clinging to each other in fear and comfort as they also realized that maybe they wouldn't make it out of Befuddle Hall alive; Flim Flam and Scooby also found themselves afraid at the sight of the strange creatures coming ever closer to them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma along with their young companion Flim Flam, who composed the internationally renown detective agency known as Mystery Inc. stood on the stage of a combination dining room, nightclub and auditorium inside a haunted and extremely frightening old house known as Befuddle Hall; the strange woman known as Queen Morbidia, who was the leader so to speak of a group of a group of grotesque and nightmarish creatures smiled wickedly as her group of monsters continued advancing on Mystery Inc., preparing to do them in once and for all.

This without a doubt was one of the strangest and most unusual situations that the group of teenage sleuths and their canine had ever encountered, and it showed on the faces of each of the members of the detective agency as well.

"Like I guess this is it Scoob, it's been nice to know to you old pal" Shaggy said with a whimper.

"Reah, re're roomed" Scooby replied with a whimper as well.

"Oh Jinkies, I guess you two are right, I don't know any way we're going to get out of this" Velma commented.

"However, we're not quite through with you six quite yet, first tell us where is the Chest of Demons?" Morbidia asked.

After hearing the strange woman's question, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Flim Flam each looked each other with a questioned look on their faces; the teen sleuths and their canine companion had no clue what she was talking about and attempted to tell her so.

"We don't have the Chest, ma'am" Fred explained.

"Yeah, you sent that Shadow Demon to take it" Daphne replied.

"Nonsense! I know nothing about a Shadow Creature, now talk or be destroyed!" Morbidia commanded, clearly unhappy about the current turn of events.

"Not a chance lady, there's nothing you can say to get us to talk" Fred remarked.

"Yeah, we've caught worse ghosts then you, and we can do it again" Daphne replied.

"Right and we know our rights, we have the right to a lawyer, the right of free speech and a few other things I can't think of right now, but we have our rights" Flim Flam explained.

"Like yeah, we have our rights, like the right to remain silent; because if we don't who knows what will happen" Shaggy commented.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Shaggy; if any of us say the wrong thing, Queen Morbidia could send us to the dungeon or worse" Velma replied.

"Reah, rand ri ron't ranna ro to ra rungeon" Scooby remarked with a whimper.

Clearly Queen Morbidia had heard enough from Mystery Inc. and decided to do something about the group of ghost chasers, once and for all.

"Seize them!" Morbidia commanded as the grotesque creatures advanced on Mystery Inc. yet again.

"Jinkies, so much for that" Velma remarked.

Queen Morbidia's strange and nightmarish crew of creeps then walked over and picked up each one of the members of Mystery Inc., albeit under major protest from Scooby and company who were not going away quietly.

"Put me down you horned toad!" Fred angrily remarked.

"Jeepers, just make sure you don't mess up my hair and clothes" Daphne added, trying to make light of a dark dismal situation.

"Abuse a ghost and go to jail, and no one but no one can get you out!" Queen Morbidia remarked, evidently she had decided to make a joke as well, albeit her sense of humor was a bit weirder than Scooby and company's sense of humor and was a lot worse then the group of detectives comedic timing as well.

A few minutes passed as Scooby and the rest of Mystery found themselves inside a dark, dismal and cobweb filled dungeon inside Befuddle Hall; the four teenagers, along with their Great Dane and their young companion sighed as they attempted to figure out someway to escape their ghastly fate, while they were pondering their current situation, Shaggy came up with a comment that pretty much summed up the group's fate.

"Well, like I guess we're going to be stuck in this grimy jail forever" the cowardly teen remarked.

"Come on Shaggy, things aren't that bad are they? Besides, they could always be worse" Fred replied.

"Like I hate to ask, but I'll do it; how could they be worse?" the cowardly teen asked.

Suddenly the group heard a strange growling sound coming from the other side of the small dungeon, and standing a few feet away was Queen Morbidia's pet spider Griswald, who looked to be quite hungry.

"Oh, like that's how" Shaggy said with a matter of fact tone in his voice.

"Yikes, that's really worse! Come on gang let's out of here before that spider devours us!" Fred declared.

With that Fred and the rest of Mystery Inc. did the most logical thing you could do when being faced with a giant spider, they ran; Scooby and company then started on their way, attempting to escape the clutches of the strange and hungry insect.

A few minutes after the gang started running, Scooby Doo found himself running smack dab into a giant spider web, which the gang assumed that Griswald had spun in order to probably catch intruders or flies.

"Relp! Rhaggy, Reddie, ranybody!" Scooby cried out as he struggled to escape the giant web, with Griswald running towards it and getting ever closer to the Great Dane.

Suddenly Shaggy and the rest of the gang stopped running as they heard the cries for help from their canine companion, which caused the cowardly teen to come running in order to help his stricken comrade.

"Don't worry Scoob, I'm coming!" Shaggy exclaimed.

However as Shaggy started running to help his teammate, he noticed an all too familiar dark figure floating nearby, and attempted to warn his fallen comrade.

"Look out Scoob, it's the shadow creature!" Shaggy called out.

The Great Dane turned around and indeed saw the strange demonic creature floating nearby, looking to capture him before the giant spider could; as the creature approached the Great Dane and began attempting to pull him off the spider web and towards the strange being.

Scooby bounced off the spider web and right into the waiting arms of his nearby friend, while Queen Morbidia's lackey continued to march right towards them; naturally these events stunned and even surprised Mystery Inc. as they appeared to be safe for a few moments, in addition to stunning the giant spider who was still trying to capture them.

"Jeepers, nice escape, Scooby how did you do it?" Daphne asked.

Meanwhile the Shadow Creature had taken the opportunity while the gang looked quite confused to escape the dungeon through a small crack in a nearby wall; Scooby and company happened to notice this and tried to figure out what to do next.

"That Shadow Demon is escaping, only question is should we follow him?" Fred wondered.

The blond teenager didn't have much time to ponder his statement because Griswald the spider was relentless in his pursuit of Scooby and the gang, and was approaching them yet again; finally Velma realized that it was now or never and decided to speak up.

"Anybody have a better idea?" the bespectacled teen asked.

"Like, not really" Shaggy replied.

"Well then let's take Velma's advice and split!" Fred declared as he and the rest of Mystery Inc. decided to follow the shadow creature and went through the crack in the wall after him; luckily the six sleuths were just thin enough to get through the wall, however unluckily for Griswald, he was unable to follow and became stuck in the wall.

"Phew, am I glad that spider didn't decide to go on a diet or something, other wise we'd be sunk" Shaggy remarked.

"Yeah, at least now we have a chance to relax" Velma replied.

Scooby and the rest of Mystery Inc. looked around the strange room that they had run into and attempted to figure out where they were and what was going to happen to them.

"Well, now that we've escaped that spider, anybody got any ideas; like for starters where in the world are we?" Daphne wondered as she and the rest of the gang started walking through the creepy looking room.

"You know, this kind of reminds me of an ancient Tibetan maze" Flim Flam explained.

"A maze?" Velma asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yeah, I remember these from my time in the Himalayas, just follow me and I'll lead you guys to safety" the young boy replied.

Flim Flam walked in front of the group as they walked through a strange hallway filled with who knows how many doors; the gang started at one end of the room and walked through one door, then walked through another door, and another, and so on; finally the unofficial leader spoke up and wondered if their young companion was leading them in the right direction.

"Flim Flam, are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Fred asked.

"Positive, just keep following me" the young boy replied.

So Scooby and company did just that and they followed the young boy through yet another door, and another and another one, until the gang went through a door which led to a stone wall, and a dead end.

"You're positive huh? Well I think we're positively lost" Fred explained.

"That's for sure" Daphne added.

Suddenly the gang heard a strange growling sound and sure enough, Griswald the spider was hanging upside down from the ceiling and looked to be ready for his next meal; Scooby and company noticed the strange creature hanging around and after a series of huh's, the gang's young companion spoke up.

"Those Tibetans always had a lousy sense of humor anyway" Flim Flam remarked.

Out of the corner of her eye, coming into the same hallway as the gang, the group's bespectacled, intelligent member noticed a familiar and frightening sight.

"Jinkies, there's that Shadow Creature again" Velma commented.

"Like oh great, now what?" Shaggy wondered.

The rest of the gang echoed the cowardly teen's statement as the strange shadow creature floated along the hallway, heading straight for Scooby and company; except for one small detail, as it turns out the shadow creature wasn't what the group expected, for instead of a shadow, all of a sudden walking towards the group was a short grey haired man, wearing spectacles, a blue bow tie, a brown suit, an aqua colored vest, brown pants and brown shoes.

"It's about time, you all showed up" the man explained.

"Huh, what are you talking about, uh sir?" Fred asked, somewhat surprised at the man's question.

"Yeah, like who are you anyway?" asked Shaggy.

"My name is Byron Befuddle, I built this place and it was my home" replied the man.

"But who's he?" Velma asked, pointing to the area behind the gentleman.

"My shadow" Mr. Befuddle answered.

Suddenly the man's shadow turned into the strange shadow creature the gang had encountered, numerous times before, and had decided to start laughing evilly, which surprised the gang somewhat.

"Okay, down boy" Mr. Befuddle said as the creature calmed down a little; afterwards Scooby laughed a little at the surprising turn of events, clearly the fact that the man treated his shadow as a pet was amusing to the canine; with the comedy out of the way, Mr. Befuddle decided to tell the gang what was going on.

"When Morbidia let her magic loose on Befuddle Hall, my shadow simply came to life" Mr. Befuddle explained.

"I get it, then he must have been the one who stole our Chest of Demons" Fred commented.

"True, but that was to bring all of you here" Mr. Befuddle replied.

"But why?" Daphne asked.

"Because I need your help, you see Morbidia and her motley crew of monsters have trapped me in here, but now that you're here, you can help me get rid of them" Mr. Befuddle explained.

"I still don't quite understand this Mr. Befuddle, if you couldn't get out of here, then how did your shadow do it?" Velma asked.

"Because my shadow is able to pass through walls and solid objects, when I try and do it I hurt myself; I also sent him to break Vincent's Crystal Ball, so that he couldn't stop you from coming here" Mr. Befuddle explained.

"So you know about Vincent then as well, right?" Velma asked.

"Correct, actually I know about a lot of things" Mr. Befuddle replied.

"OK Mr. Befuddle, if we help you escape from here, will you promise to return our Chest of Demons?" Fred asked.

"Deal!" Mr. Befuddle replied as he shook the blond teen's hand in agreement.

While Scooby and his friends were consulting with their new friend, Griswald the spider had figured out a way to crack the wall that he was stuck in, and was clearly displeased with Mystery Inc. for escaping from here.

"Uh-oh, look's like Griswald's getting mad" Shaggy remarked.

With that and with Mr. Befuddle joining them, Scooby and company decided that now was a good time to try and escape from the evil spider, so they split in the opposite direction as Griswald broke through the wall and followed them.

"Quickly this way, I'll lead you to the hiding place of the Chest" Mr. Befuddle explained as he pointed to the left.

Mystery Inc. made their way out of the strange room, through the dungeon and through the strange hallway of doors and after several minutes of running, found themselves in another room with a wooden door, which happened to be wide open; after the teen sleuths and their Great Dane entered the room, the door closed and Griswald ran smack into it with a loud thump.

Meanwhile inside the strange room, Byron Befuddle was showing giving the gang the grand tour of the strange room, which thankfully made sense considering what the man was about to tell them.

"This is where I hid the chest, in Queen Morbidia's bedchambers" Mr. Befuddle explained.

"Hey, that was smart thinking Mr. Befuddle, this would be the last place that she would expect it to be" Velma commented.

"Exactly" Mr. Befuddle replied.

"So where did you hide the chest, Mr. Befuddle?' Fred asked.

"In the closet" he replied.

"I'll go get it" Daphne remarked as she walked over to a set of doors on the other side of the room; she pulled on the door and a large amount of junk cascaded onto her as it opened.

"Holy cow, you okay Daphne?" Fred asked as he walked over to where she was, hoping that the redhead wouldn't be injured.

"I sure am, besides this seems to happen every time I open my closet at home" she explained.

Fred snickered under his breath at the redhead's comment, but luckily for Daphne, she didn't happen to hear it.

"Besides, look what I found inside!" the redhead added.

"Good going Daphne, you found the Chest of Demons!" Fred exclaimed as he walked over to congratulate his female companion by giving her a big hug.

"Thanks Freddie" the redhead replied with a smile.

"Yes, thank you to all of you, because now my search is finally over!" a voice declared from the other side of the room.

"Morbidia!" Mr. Befuddle declared as the strange woman, her crew of monsters, and oh yes Griswald the spider had found the gang and were standing in the doorway.

"Good hunting Griswald!" Morbidia said as the spider scampered into the room and after Mystery Inc.

"Creepers, run for it gang!" Fred declared as the gang ran out of the room with Daphne carrying the Chest and a variety of strange monsters following them.

"So where to Mr. Befuddle?" Velma asked.

"To get out, we must go downstairs" Mr. Befuddle explained, as Queen Morbidia and a Rogue's Gallery of creatures still on the gang's tail.

"Stop them!" Queen Morbidia demanded as she and the creatures continued to attempt to track down the gang.

"Down here" Mr. Befuddle explained as the gang followed him down a staircase.

"Now down here" Mr. Befuddle said as Mystery Inc. followed the man down another staircase.

"This is the last one" Mr. Befuddle remarked as Scooby and company followed close behind with Griswald following all the while.

Mystery Inc. followed Mr. Befuddle to a nearby window, hoping that there was some way out of the strange house.

"According to my calculations, this is the very basement of the manor" Mr. Befuddle explained.

Velma then decided to walk over to the window and check on this, except for one thing, there was no exit from the room.

"Mr. Befuddle, I think you goofed" the bespectacled teen said as she and Mr. Befuddle looked out the window.

"Oh dear" he remarked as the two of them looked down and saw that the exit to the manor was no where in sight, in fact there was more of the castle down below them.

"Oh Jinkies, now what to do we do?" Velma wondered.

"Can I give you a lift?" an unseen voice asked.

Suddenly Velma and Mr. Befuddle looked around inside the room, and then looked out the window only to see Vincent Van Ghoul wearing a purple turban and riding a flying carpet.

"Jinkies, Mr. Van Ghoul!" Velma exclaimed.

"At your service" Vincent replied.

Meanwhile Queen Morbidia, Griswald and her motley crew of creatures had finally arrived outside the door of the room where Scooby and company were currently in and decided to try and capture the Great Dane and his ghost chasing friends.

"Break that door down!" Morbidia commanded.

While the strange woman and her lackeys were trying to open the door, Scooby and company along with Mr. Befuddle had joined Vincent on his magic carpet and were now flying out the window of Befuddle Hall.

Finally Queen Morbidia and company had broken through and saw what was going on; needless to say she did not look too pleased at what was going on.

"Stop!" she yelled as the carpet began flying away.

However, she didn't have to wait long as Vincent's carpet was having a slight problem, as a matter of fact it was making the same noise that a car would make if its engine wasn't starting or had a problem starting.

"Uh oh, too much weight!" Vincent remarked as the carpet began sparking and was now plummeting towards the ground.

"They've done it! They've escaped from Befuddle Castle, they must be destroyed!" Morbidia commanded as she saw Scooby and company slowly getting away, except that she didn't notice the carpet quickly losing altitude, with the gang yelling all the way down.

Finally the carpet and Mystery Inc. landed with a crash in a large patch of grass; Vincent was clearly unhappy with the canine member of Mystery Inc. and showed his displeasure with him as he bemoaned the fact a large Great Dane was sitting on him.

"Ugh, somebody's getting awfully heavy" Vincent bemoaned.

"Like yeah Scoob, looks like you better cut down on those Scooby Snacks" Shaggy replied.

While Scooby Doo and the rest of the gang were brushing themselves off after climbing out of the grass, they were about to encounter something both quite frightening and quite familiar; Fred then looked over at the castle entrance and saw a familiar woman and her group of creatures heading straight for Mystery Inc.

"Look, its Queen Morbidia!" the blond teen exclaimed.

With that Scooby and the gang, joined by Mr. Befuddle and Vincent Van Ghoul ran for it once more, Morbidia and her group of creatures were following close behind as usual as they chased Mystery Inc. up a nearby hill.

"After them!" Morbidia yelled as she and the other monsters continued their pursuit.

The sinister woman and her cronies chased the gang all the way up the hill until Scooby and company found themselves with no way out, as the collection of sleuths looked down and saw that they were on a cliff, with a drop off of about a thousand feet or so waiting for the group if they fell.

"Jinkies, a dead end!" Velma shrieked.

"Like now what are we going to do?" Shaggy added.

"There's only one solution, we filibuster" Vincent explained.

"Rillibuster?" Scooby questioned.

"Yes, we stall for time until dawn" Vincent added.

"Hey that's right, the monsters will lose their powers at sunrise and that's not too long from now" Fred remarked as he looked down at his watch.

Queen Morbidia then decided to take the opportunity while the gang was trapped to take what she was looking for all night.

"At last! I'll take that!" Queen Morbidia said as she walked over to Daphne and took the chest from her.

With the Chest of Demons in her possession, Queen Morbidia decided it was now time to dispose of her unwanted mystery solving, ghost chasing guests.

"Ah, and now I shall destroy the Chest and all of you, do you have any last words?" Morbidia asked, however as she would soon learn, this was something that she probably shouldn't have done.

"As a matter of fact we do" Vincent commented.

"To start, I bet you didn't know that we are a group of detectives as well as ghost chasers" Fred explained.

"Right and we've captured hundreds of ghosts, monsters, vampires, werewolves and all sorts of other supernatural creatures, all phony of course" Daphne remarked.

"Of course, all of the creatures, ghosts, villains and monsters turned out to be people in costumes trying to scare people away from different places because the villains were trying to commit some kind of crime or steal some kind of treasure or asset" Velma added.

"Like yeah, but even though a lot of those ghosts were fake, Scooby and I were still pretty scared of them all, not to mention we've done who knows how much running over the years" Shaggy remarked, though a bit nervous as he remembered the gang's past adventures.

"Reah, rhey rere retty rary" the Great Dane added.

"Hey gang, since Queen Morbidia gave us a chance to say some last words, why don't we tell her and the rest of her monsters about some of our past cases" Fred explained.

"That's a good idea Freddie, plus this would be a good chance for Flim Flam to learn about us and our history as well" Daphne replied.

"Sounds like fun to me, go ahead guys and start" the young boy replied.

"OK, where we start?" Fred wondered.

"I know, how about the Black Knight?" Velma suggested.

"Good thinking Velma; well, it all started one night when Shaggy and Scooby were walking home from the movies" Fred explained.

And with those words Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby started to tell Queen Morbidia, her gang of monsters, Flim Flam, Vincent Van Ghoul and Mr. Befuddle about their hundreds of past mysteries over the years; Flim Flam thought the tales were quite interesting, for a while, in addition Vincent also found some of their past tales quite exciting as well, Mr. Befuddle was interested in some of the stories quite exciting too.

However Queen Morbidia and her gang of monsters weren't very interested and were attempting to figure out a way to pass the time, finally she decided to start doing her nails, before that she tapped her feet, clearly impatient at the gang's stalling tactics; meanwhile after some time had passed, Flim Flam became decided to play jacks in between listening to the gang's stories, in addition Vincent was checking his watch hoping that soon it would be the daytime.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Vincent noticed that his watch was getting very close to sunrise; after waiting a few more minutes and after the gang had exhausted most of their list of stories, the great warlock was quite pleased that the group's nightmare was about to end.

"Three, two, one and now!" Vincent declared; at that exact moment the sun began to rise over the nearby mountains.

"No, the sun; we've been duped!" Morbidia exclaimed; meanwhile Griswald and the rest of Morbidia's monsters were running into one another ala the Three Stooges attempting to escape the daylight, not to mention the rest of her group of monsters were either attempting to run or fly away to avoid the light of the sun.

"No! I must escape the sun; I must hide from its rays!" Morbidia declared as she dropped the chest onto the ground, which caused it to open.

"Good night Queen Morbidia" Mr. Befuddle said as the once wicked woman turned into dust, while her cape sat on the ground, still intact somehow.

"And good riddance!" Fred remarked as Flim Flam brought out a dust pan and swept up the formerly evil creature into it; after that the young boy took the dust pan and cape and placed it inside the Chest, and then finally the young boy closed the chest locking Queen Morbidia inside, for all eternity.

"Now it is the time of life, say farewell to the night, happily we greet the sun, bringer of joy, laughter and fun" Vincent said as he and the rest of the gang looked at undoubtedly the most beautiful sunset they had ever seen, considering the previous night's circumstances and the creepy house the group had been inside.

"Jinkies, that was very beautiful Mr. Van Ghoul; you know you have the soul of a poet in you" Velma said.

"Thank you Velma, I never thought of myself as much of a poet, but I guess that was a nice poem wasn't it" Vincent replied.

"You know you should get some of those poems published" Velma remarked.

"Yeah Mr. Van Ghoul, I know a publisher and I bet he would be happy to publish your work" Fred added. 

"Thank You Fred, but no thanks; I may be a poet, but I would rather not have my work in print; it's just something I don't really want to do" Vincent commented.

"That was a pretty nice poem Mr. Van Ghoul" Flim Flam remarked as he walked over with the Chest of Demons.

"Thank You Flim Flam" Vincent said.

"And it's nice to see you in such a good mood" Flim Flam replied.

"Oh really, why?" Vincent asked, sounding somewhat suspicious at the young man's comment.

"Well, you see, when we all fell off the carpet, I had a little accident with the old crystal" Flim Flam explained as he showed Vincent the Crystal Ball that he had been carrying with him, which of course was cracked and on the fritz.

"Flim Flam, how many times have I told you?" Vincent replied, with his voice raised somewhat as he saw the two Crystals.

"I know, I know, be careful with the crystal, hundreds of times; but don't worry Vince, Scooby and I are taking the crystals to the Mystic repair shop right now" Flim Flam explained as he walked over to join Scooby.

"But that's a thousand miles from here!" Vincent said, somewhat surprised at what the young boy had told him.

"I know Vince, but hopefully you won't mind if Scooby and I borrow your magic carpet for the day would you?" Flim Flam asked.

"Certainly Flim Flam; wait a minute, my magic carpet!" Vincent yelled as he attempted to reason with Flim Flam as only he could.

"Thanks a lot Vince, you won't regret this; onward Jeeves!" Flim Flam said to the Great Dane as he joined the young boy on the carpet, albeit dressed in old fashioned chauffeur's uniform.

"Flim Flam, come back here right this second, Flim Flam, Flim Flaaam!" Vincent yelled to the young boy while shaking his fist as Scooby honked the carpet's horn.

With that Scooby and Flim Flam took off towards the Mystic Repair Shop on Vincent's magic carpet; eventually the pair got to their destination and got the Crystals repaired, it was a good thing they did so because they would need the crystals on the gang's next ghost chasing assignment to track down another of the 13 Ghosts from the Demon Chest wherever he or she might be lurking, somewhere on the planet; but what would the next ghost look like or what would the gang encounter next? That question and mystery would soon be solved as Mystery Inc. continued on their quest to capture the _13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo_.

Author's Notes: The part of this chapter where the gang attempted to filibuster was a bit different from the original TV episode; on that episode the gang sung to attempt to stall for time, whereas in this fan fic they told stories of their adventures to stall for time; it was a little different but I hope everyone enjoyed it.


End file.
